Saturday, 20 September 2014

Philip Sawyers: Symphony No.2 on Nimbus Alliance

I
recently reviewed Philip Sawyers’s two Violin Sonatas released on Nimbus Alliance (NI6240). My
conclusion was that in these days, when so much ‘art’ music has jumped onto the
‘pop’ or ‘minimalist’ bandwagon it is good to come across a composer whose
music has emotion, challenge and structure. His musical style has embraced some ‘honest,
down-to-earth serial music that delights in a subtle balance between dissonance
and consonance, controlled organization and moments of sheer inspiration’. It is a supposition that holds good for the
present release of these three important symphonic and concerted works.

Philip
Sawyers has an excellent website where all
necessary biographical information can be accessed. However a couple of notes
may be of help. Sawyers was born in London in 1951. He studied violin with
Colin Sauer, Joan Spencer and Max Rostal. Interestingly, his composition
teacher was Helen Glatz, who had been a student of Ralph Vaughan Williams.
Further guidance came from Buxton Orr, Patric Standford and Edmund Rubbra. Between 1973 and 1997 he was a member of the
Royal Opera House Orchestra at Covent Garden.
Sawyers concentrates now on composing, but fills his ‘spare time’ as a
freelance violin teacher and player and as an adjudicator for the Associated
Board of the Royal Schools of Music. It is not until the past 20 or so years
that Sawyers has begun to make a considerable name for himself as a major
composer.

The
earliest work on this CD is the Concertante for Violin, Piano and Strings which
was composed in 2006: it was commissioned by the Czech violinist Tomas
Tulacek.The liner notes point out that
there are few works for this combination: Josef Haydn and Felix Mendelssohn
spring to mind. The composer has written
that this work is ‘quite playful in its outer sections’- conversely, I find
that this ‘playfulness’ is edgy and even a little sinister. It may have been
inspired by an eighteenth century divertimento, but these are deep waters with a
central section that is almost heart-breaking in its exploration of the twelve-note
theme. The ‘finale’ moves a little
towards easing the emotional tension, but this is no throwaway rondo designed
to raise applause. This is a hard-won struggle to overcome the introspection of
the slow movement.

The
Symphony No. 2 was commissioned by the Sydenham International Music Festival and
was duly premiered by the London Mozart Players under Robert Trory (who died sadly
in August 2013). The only stipulation was that the ‘orchestral forces’ had to be
the same as for Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony which was also included in the premiere’s
programme. The composer has noted that his Symphony No. 2 is not in the
‘traditional four movement mould’. Notwithstanding this assertion, this single
movement work does fall into the four
sections – quick opening, slow second section, an intermezzo and a fourth
‘movement’ that reuses earlier material
and rounds it all off with a substantial peroration. Sawyers has stated that the
musical material of this symphony is ‘motivically based’ and that the ‘symphonic
journey’ is of continual development. (Ah! How I love that word ‘development’
and not just ‘repetition’ or ‘repetition with slight variation’ that seems to
haunt so much ‘modern’ music.)

The
sound-world of this outstanding symphony is something of a ‘fusion’ – even
without the score it is easy to ‘imagine’ the working-out of 12-tone techniques.
There are moments when the listener may be tempted to think that the composer
is using a particular key, and then this illusion is blown away, and Webernian
atonalism seems to take grip. Post-romanticism is a keynote in some passages,
as is the aggression of RVWs Fourth Symphony. But this ‘fusion’ is seamless and
totally coherent: this is what makes Sawyers’ Symphony ‘great.’ It is a
carefully contrived synthesis that is musically satisfying and successful. Add
to this the colourful use of the orchestra and the stage is set for an important
addition to the huge range of British Symphonies written over the past 150
years. But the most essential thing is that this is a powerful, emotionally
charged work that inspires and moves the listener.

The
latest work on this CD was also commissioned by the Sydenham International
Music Festival for their 2010 event. It was written for the present soloist,
the Serbian-French cellist Maja Bogdanovic.The composer has suggested that although the concerto has some
‘technically demanding passages’ the intention was not to write a virtuosic
showpiece, but more to reflect on what the ‘cello means to me and convey the
moods and nuances of expression that I find most appealing in the instrument.’

This
is an approachable work that makes an impact on first hearing. The liner notes
mention a critical Saywers’ fingerprint already noted above; the ability to move
easily between ‘quite traditional chords and a highly chromatic, freely
dissonant harmonic vocabulary.’ Added to this is the wayward ‘interplay’ of
emotions – at one moment lyrical, then spirited, sometimes ironic and occasionally
ferocious. Yet these are not musical clichés that are strung together: they
evolve and develop one to another.

The
Cello Concerto is an extremely satisfying representative of a genre that is
relatively uncommon in British Music. If I was pressed, I would say that a ‘finger
in the air’ comparison would be ‘Finzi meets Searle’ and discuss Schumann. But
this is facile… Philip Sawyer’s Cello Concerto is unique and will reveal itself
in repeated hearings: if it is given the chance.

The
liner notes are excellent (and the print is not too small!) and offers an
exploration of these three pieces of music by the present Principle Guest
Conductor of the Swan Orchestra, Kenneth Woods. These are interpolated with
notes by the composer. Included are biographical details about the performers and
the Orchestra of the Swan which is based in Stratford-upon-Avon.

I
consider that the performance of all three works are exemplary and display the
orchestra’s skill and enthusiasm. The soloists are clearly impressive in their
interpretation of this music.

One
final thought. I am not a Beethoven fan. However, I can understand why he is ‘great’.
His Seventh Symphony (the one that was performed alongside Sawyers’ Second) has
some 299 recordings currently listed on Arkiv: Sawyers’ has this present
one.It seems to me that most British symphonies
(apart from Elgar, RVW, Arnold etc.) seem to stretch to a single recording (if
lucky) and less than a handful of performances. It is something that makes me
go ‘Hmmm’. Is Beethoven that much better? I will listen to Sawyers’ 2 again –
Beethoven (for me) can wait a wee while longer.

About Me

I am well over fifty years old: the end of the run of baby boomers! I was born in Glasgow, moving south to York in the late ‘seventies. I now work in London.
My main interest is British Music from the nineteenth century onwards.
I love the ‘arch-typical’ English countryside – and have always wanted to ‘Go West, Boy’.
A. E. Housman and the ‘Georgian’ poets are a huge influence on my aesthetic. I have spent much of my life looking for the ‘Land of Lost Content’ and only occasionally glimpsed it…somewhere in…???
My recently published work includes essays on Ivor Gurney’s song ‘On Wenlock Edge’ for the Gurney Society Journal, The Music of Marion Scott and a study of Janet Hamilton’s songs for the British Music Society Journal, and the composer Muriel Herbert for the Housman Society.
I have contributed to the journals of the Ralph Vaughan Williams Society, the Finzi Society, and the Bliss Society, the Berkeley Society, the BMS Newsletter and regular CD reviews for MusicWeb International.